Supreme Court restores broad access to abortion pill in major ruling

Supreme Court restores broad access to abortion pill in major ruling

Last week, a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions, blocking the mailing of the drug

View 3 Images The Supreme Court has restored access to the abortion pill, Mifepristone (Image: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court restored broad access to the abortion pill, Mifepristone, on Monday.

The decision blocked a ruling that threatened to upend one of the main ways abortion is provided in the U.S. The order, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, temporarily allows those seeking abortion to get the pill at pharmacies or through the mail without an in-person visit to the doctor.

These rules were in effect for several years until last week, when a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions, blocking the mailing of Mifepristone. The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained through medications, typically a combination of Mifepristone and Misoprostol.

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Their availability has reduced the impact of abortion bans that have been enforced in most Republican-led states since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Louisiana has sued to restrict access to Mifepristone, claiming that the drug's availability undermined the ban there.

In the ruling, Judge Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, agreed with the state's contention that allowing the drug to be mailed renders the ban moot.

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View 3 Images Louisiana sued to ban mailing of the drug, saying it made its abortion ban moot

"Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is a human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’" he said in last week's ruling.

Some Democratic-led states have laws that aim to give legal protection to those who prescribe the drugs via telehealth to patients in states with bans. Alito's order will remain in effect for another week while both sides respond and the court fully considers the issue.

Mifepristone manufacturers filed emergency appeals asking the Supreme Court to step in.

View 3 Images Pro-choice activists said the restriction would harm millions of women (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Mifepristone was approved in 2000 as a safe and effective way to end early pregnancies. Surveys found that the majority of abortions in the U.S. are provided via pills and that about 1 in 4 abortions are prescribed through telehealth visits.

A survey of abortion providers published by the Associated Press last year estimated that more women in states where abortion access is banned obtained Mifepristone through telehealth than by traveling to other states.

However, last week's ruling blocked this form of access by restricting the mailing of the drug. "This is going to affect patients’ access to abortion and miscarriage care in every state in the nation," ACLU lawyer Julia Kaye told the outlet.

"When telemedicine is restricted, rural communities, people with low incomes, people with disabilities, survivors of intimate partner violence, and communities of color suffer the most."